The Case for Looking Like Scum at Barneys

According to The Wall Street Journal, a recent Harvard Business School study found that "sticking out in distinct ways can lend you an air of presence or influence."

As an Esquire reader and sprezzatura devotee we'll assume you knew this already, but before you chalk this up to another case of "No Duh" academic wanking, consider this aspect of the report — it's not just the polished details that make one standout, it can also be the crappy ones.

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The Wall Street Journal claims, "Those more familiar with the luxury retail environment were more likely to assume that a gym-clothes-wearing client was confident enough to not need to dress up." I can confirm this as someone who's been treated like royalty at Barneys while looking like gutter trash. I'm pretty sure they thought I was in, like, DIIV or something. The right amount of wrong, in the right context, with the right attitude works wonders. I've seen the same happen countless times at nightspots in New York. Shined shoes and "going out" shirt goes to the back of the line, while dirty denims and bed head breezes by the velvet rope.

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Now, lest you think Esquire is backtracking, suddenly suggesting that you neglect grooming and style, Silvia Bellezza, co-author of the study and Harvard doctoral candidate, explains that "In order to think the person's a big shot, you have to understand that person is willingly engaging in this nonconforming conduct."

And how do you do that? Well, by using your style to show you know exactly what the fk you're doing. Here, like normcore or any other style situation, you must know the rules to break them properly. You must look like shit in the best possible way. Not just any filthy jeans will get you four-star service at Barneys. Nay, they must be the perfect filthy jeans that fit properly and convey a sense of knowing but not caring. To paraphrase Sun-Tzu "if you know your enemies' swag and your swag, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles."

After all, isn't that what sprezzatura's intentional nonchalance is all about?